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Tag: sci-fi

  • Anne Hathaway To Star In A Huge Sci-Fi Monster Movie Alongside Dan Stevens

    Anne Hathaway is set to star in a sci-fi monster film, Colossal.

    Hathaway has been cast alongside Jason Sudeikis, Tim Blake Nelson, and Austin Stowell, who recently appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. The latest to join the cast is former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens. Stevens’ publicist confirmed the news to EW.

    The film was written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, and follows the story of a young woman, portrayed by Hathaway, who went back to her hometown after losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend. 

    When a huge monster appears in Seoul, South Korea, Hathaway’s character feels an odd, yet strong connection to it. Stevens will play opposite Hathaway as her ex-boyfriend who tries to win back her love after dumping him. He appeared in the remake of the Disney fairytale Beauty and the Beast as the titular Beast alongside Emma Watson, and starred in the indie thriller film, The Guest.

    Colossal is going to be Vigalondo’s biggest movie project to date. He is best known for mixing popular movie concepts into his indie films Open Windows and Timecrime. Timecrime is a horror film mixed with the concept of time travel. In his film Extraterrestrial, he played with the romantic-comedy genre and added an alien invasion twist.

    The film will feature a huge creature similar to those featured in successful monster movies like Godzilla. There is little information about the movie and there has been no news of possible release dates but reports claim Colossal is filming in Vancouver despite a looming lawsuit filed by the copyright holder of Godzilla. The said lawsuit filed in May accuses Vigalondo and Voltage Pictures for “copyright and trademark infringement, federal trademark dilution, violation of the Lanham Act, and unjust enrichment,” according to EW.

    Nevertheless, Hathaway in a sci-fi/monster film is something to look forward to.

  • Netflix Reportedly Wants ‘Black Mirror’ for Itself

    Netflix Reportedly Wants ‘Black Mirror’ for Itself

    Black Mirror has only aired seven episodes – two three-episode series and a Christmas special – but the show has already made a huge splash in both the UK and the States. We’ve known that creator Charlie Brooker is working on more, the only thing up in the air is where there future episodes will land – and who will produce them.

    The show, a sci-fi anthology that explores some of the dark possibilities of our increasingly tech-obsessed culture, originally airs on Britain’s Channel 4, and Netflix has exclusive online streaming rights in the US.

    But according to a new report from Radio Times, Netflix wants to do more than simply stream Black Mirror after its initial run. Netflix is apparently trying to make Black Mirror one if its high-profile originals.

    From Radio Times:

    Charlie Brooker’s dystopian drama series Black Mirror, will be back, RadioTimes.com can reveal, but not necessarily on Channel 4.

    Brooker is currently writing scripts for a new run of the C4-originated drama which explores the dark and troubling aspects of technology.

    But it is such a hit in the US that that he is being wooed by streaming giant Netflix which wants to make new episodes of the show for themselves, according to well-placed sources.

    Black Mirror first hit Netflix last December and got American audiences talking with a first episode that involved the British Prime Minister porking a pig on live television. The series – well-produced, well-acted, and well-written – is surely popular on Netflix.

    And we know how Netflix likes to use this sort of big data to make decisions.

    The last we heard, Black Mirror was likely getting a US version. “There is a plan” were the exact words.

  • Sense8, The Wachowskis’ New Netflix Show, Gets an Official Trailer

    Sense8, The Wachowskis’ New Netflix Show, Gets an Official Trailer

    Sense8, the sci-fi drama from Matrix creators The Wachowskis, has just dropped its official trailer.

    “One moment links 8 minds in disparate parts of the world, putting 8 strangers in each other’s lives, each other’s secrets, and in terrible danger,” says Netflix. “From the unparalleled creative minds of The Wachowskis (“The Matrix”​ trilogy,​ “Cloud Atlas”)​ and J. Michael Straczynski (Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling​,” ​”World War Z”), as well as Grant Hill (“The Matrix” trilogy, “Cloud Atlas”). The international cast includes: Brian J. Smith, Tuppence Middleton, Jamie Clayton, Miguel Angel Silvestre, Tina Desai, Doona Bae, Aml Ameen and Max Riemelt. Also, Daryl Hannah, Naveen Andrews, Terrence Mann, Freema Agyeman, Alfonso Herrera, Erendira Ibarra, Adam Shapiro, Ness Bautista​ and ​​​Joe Pantoliano.”

    Netflix says it’s “unlike anything seen on television before.”

    Here’s a little more info on the new show:

    “The series follows eight characters around the world who, in the aftermath of a tragic death, find themselves linked to each other mentally and emotionally. They can not only see and talk to each other as though they were in the same place, they have access to each other’s deepest secrets. Not only must they figure out what happened and why and what it means for the future of humanity, they must do so while being hunted by an organization out to capture, kill or vivisect them,” said Writer and showrunner J. Michael Straczynski.

    The show was filmed in San Francisco, London, Berlin, Seoul, Iceland, Mexico City, Nairobi, and Mumbai.

    All 12 episodes of Sense8 hits Netflix on June 5.

  • Jennifer Lawrence And Chris Pratt May Co-Star In Sci-Fi Film ‘Passengers’

    The sci-fi film Passengers has been a long-gestating project for Prometheus writer John Spaits. And while its long history has been marred by people dropping out of the project, it seems to have found new life with Sony Pictures. According to reports, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt are in talks to star in the film.

    Passengers follows a spacecraft where a man played by Pratt wakes up from his cryogenic sleep a decade early. The man decides to awaken a female passenger to save him from loneliness. Jennifer Lawrence is slated to play the female passenger. However, nothing is set in stone yet, with both actors having a lot on their plate right now. Jennifer Lawrence will also be appearing in the next X-Men film while Pratt is also busy with his upcoming films, including the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel.

    Morten Tyldum, director of The Imitation Game, is slated to direct the project. Passengers has been passed around from studio to studio, with The Weinstein Company and Focus Features being involved at some point before eventually landing at Sony.

    Other actors who have been attached to the project prior to the involvement of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are Keanu Reeves, Reese Witherspoon, and Rachel McAdams. All of them eventually dropped out, leaving the project in limbo until December of last year.

    Worst case scenario, the project will be delayed yet again to accommodate the busy schedules of both Pratt and Lawrence who will be filming their respective Marvel Comics adaptations.

    News of Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt’s involvement in Passengers may be a huge draw for the film. Seeing as how they’re both bankable leads with acting chops. It also helps that they each have high profile films that are coming out this year: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 starring Jennifer Lawrence, and Jurassic World starring Chris Pratt.

  • Scarlett Johansson Will Play Lead In Ghost In The Shell; Is Hollywood Whitewashing An Anime Classic?

    Hollywood doesn’t have a stellar track record when it comes to adapting anime, and it seems the trend is going to continue with the announcement that the oft-criticized Ghost in the Shell adaptation is pushing through. The latest news about the adaptation is that Scarlett Johansson will be starring in the lead role based on Major Motoko Kusanagi, the protagonist of the source material. The 1995 anime film is heralded as a classic among fans, and along with Akira, signaled the rise of Japanese animation in the west.

    The Ghost in the Shell manga and subsequent anime adaptation proved to be successful, that it eventually became a franchise that spawned films and an animated TV series. The story revolves around a Japanese counter-terrorism team led by the cybernetically-enhanced Major Kusanagi. The Hollywood remake starring Johansson will be the first western take on the story, and will most likely transfer the action to North America instead of Japan.

    Johansson has proven herself to be a marketable female action star with recent films like Lucy and her role as Black Widow in the Avengers franchise proving to be huge box office draws. However, a lot of the fans of the original work are not happy with the casting choice. Fans took to Twitter to accuse Hollywood of “whitewashing” and choosing popular Caucasian actresses to take on roles that were meant for Asian women. One Twitter user sarcastically remarked, “Every Asian actress alive was just too busy, probably”.

    The Ghost in the Shell live action film will be directed by Snow White and The Huntsman’s Rupert Sanders from a script written by The Reluctant Fundamentalist’s Bill Wheeler. Whether or not they stick to the source material remains to be seen. Only time will tell if the film proves to be successful enough to change the minds of the naysayers. But at this point, a lot of fans are remaining skeptical.

  • Gillian Anderson Releases Excerpt From New Book

    Add published author to Gillian Anderson’s resume. The X-Files actress has just released an excerpt from her new science-fiction book A Vision of Fire. Anderson wrote the book with New York Times bestselling author Jeff Rovin.

    Here’s the synopsis for the book:

    Renowned child psychologist Caitlin O’Hara is a single mom trying to juggle her job, her son, and a lackluster dating life. Her world is suddenly upturned when Maanik, the daughter of India’s ambassador to the United Nations, starts speaking in tongues and having violent visions. Caitlin is sure that her fits have something to do with the recent assassination attempt on her father—a shooting that has escalated nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan to dangerous levels—but when teenagers around the world start having similar outbursts, Caitlin begins to think that there’s a more sinister force at work.

    In Haiti, a student claws at her throat, drowning on dry land. In Iran, a boy suddenly and inexplicably sets himself on fire. Animals, too, are acting irrationally, from rats in New York City to birds in South America to ordinary house pets. With Asia on the cusp of nuclear war, Caitlin must race across the globe to uncover the mystical links among these seemingly unrelated incidents in order to save her patient—and perhaps the world.

    Anderson wanted to create a protagonist that she could relate to, “I wanted a very strong female character, around my age. I would want to read something like that and I think other women would like to read.”

    You will have to wait until October to read A Vision of Fire. However, readers can see a sample of the work on the Simon451 Fall 2014 Preview Sampler. The Sampler can be accessed via Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iBookstore, Amazon Kindle, and the Google Play Store.

    Anderson and X-Files co-star David Duchovny recently sparked rumors during a Reddit AMA forum that another X-Files movie was possibly in the works. Duchovny stated, “I think Chris (creator Chris Carter) is working on a script. Chris is shooting a pilot right now, so he might not be working on a script, but he claims to be working on a script, and if he does do that and Fox wants to make it … Gillian will do it, I will do it, so start your writing campaign now. Seriously. We’d all love to do it. The ball is in Fox’s hands. And not Fox Mulder, Fox the studio.”

    Anderson is currently starring as Blanche DuBois in Young Vic’s production of the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • ‘Star Trek 3’ Has a Confirmed Director: Roberto Orci

    When it was announced that J.J. Abrams would be the director of the newest Star Wars trilogy, the entire sci-fi community almost collapsed in on itself. It wasn’t that the community thinks Abrams is a bad director or terrible person or ill-informed or anything necessarily negative; it’s just the fact that at the time of his hiring, Abrams was also the director of the newly rebooted Star Trek movie series. With the long-lasting feud between Jedi-wannabes and Trekkies, there was no way Abrams was going to be able to direct both franchises. Understanding that Star Wars was the bigger and better opportunity (Admit it, Trekkies.), Abrams decided to give the opportunity to direct the Star Trek series to someone else. That someone else happens to be Roberto Orci, Abrams’s co-writer for the first two installments of the Star Trek reboot.

    In speaking with BBC News yesterday, Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty in the reboots), confirmed that Orci will indeed be the newest director of the Star Trek franchise, despite reluctance from Paramount Studios:

    I’m really happy he’s doing it as it’s kept within the family kind of thing, it’s not somebody coming in from outside.Bob’s been there since the first Star Trek – by that I mean the 2009 one – so it seemed to make perfect sense that he come in as a director on this one because he gets it. He was always the most Trekkie of all of those guys anyway, he’s always understood the story the best so it’s great that he’s going to be involved in the writing and directing.

    The statement from Pegg corroborates an earlier statement the actor made at a Star Trek convention last month when he simply said, “Bob is going to direct the new film.”

    Rumor has it that Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) were the original frontrunners for the directing job because Paramount wanted someone who had no previous relation to the franchise.

    While Orci has written for the first two movies, he does bring a breath of fresh air to the series as this will be his directorial debut. In the past, Orci has written for such films as Transformers, Mission Impossible III and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With the newest installment of Star Trek, Orci is expected to hearken back to the original series moreso than Abrams.

    The plot for Star Trek 3 (not the working title, by the way) centers around the original five-year journey of the USS Enterprise as featured in the original TV series. Because of its central plot idea, many think this installment will bring more of a philosophical flair to the series, giving original Trekkies exactly what they want.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Halle Berry: Happy To Play Role Of Expectant Mother

    Halle Berry loves being pregnant, so it’s no surprise that she shines in her new role in the CBS series, Extant.

    “I’m the happiest in my life when I have been pregnant, truly. So to be pregnant again on a show right after giving birth didn’t scare me at all. I thought, ‘I’m going to ace that part of this, for sure!’” said Halle Berry of her exciting role.

    And ace it, she certainly has. Halle Berry is earning some rave reviews for her acting chops on the show. She plays a woman that just spent 13 months in space alone completing a solo mission who comes home only to find out that she is inexplicably pregnant.

    Halle Berry’s character is infertile, and she realizes that she is about to give birth to the world’s first artificially intelligent humaniod.

    Her outstanding performance in Extant could be the digression that Halle Berry needs from bland acting roles that seem to plague her. Catwoman and X-Men: The Last Stand have really done her no good whatsoever.

    Of course, as the icing on the cake, Halle Berry got to work with screen giant Steven Spielberg. She said of Spielberg,

    “A name like that, you don’t really sneeze at. I know the quality of his work and I know that he loves this sort of genre. This was a character that when I first read (the script) was so relatable to me. While I’m not an astronaut or scientist — far, far from it — I still had an understanding about the human quality of this woman and her struggle to not only find time for herself, but also to be a good mother. The fact that she’s a scientist becomes a little bit irrelevant pretty fast. It becomes very human.”

    Sounds like an interesting show! Catch Halle Berry in Extant on CBS Thursdays at 8.

    Image via YouTube

  • Scarlett Johansson Answering Questions About ‘Lucy’

    Actress Scarlett Johansson will be answering questions about her new film Lucy via Twitter, according to Entertainment Weekly. Twitter users can tweet with #askLUCY and @EW today to send questions to Johansson herself, and EW will be sharing answers on Thursday.

    Lucy is a sci-fi action film directed, written, edited and produced by French director Luc Besson, and hits theaters on July 25. The plot revolves around a world controlled by criminal organizations, and Johansson plays the title character Lucy, who is forced into being a drug mule by a mob based in Taipei, Taiwan. A surgically implanted packet of drugs breaks open and leaks into her body, which causes a reaction that allows her to access more than the mythically standard 10% of her brain.

    Lucy then evolves into a superhuman, to where she can absorb vast amounts of information instantly and wield telekinetic powers. The film also stars Morgan Freeman.

    Here is a new clip from the film, in which Johansson’s character speeds through Paris:

    Another clip showing Lucy making an escape is also online:

    Here Lucy has an encounter with the Taiwanese mob:

    The 10% brain myth is a popular urban legend perpetuated by a misunderstanding of archaic brain research. Modern imaging has revealed that all areas of the brain are “firing,” though the exact functions of some regions are still misunderstood.

    In 2013 Johansson also appeared in director Jonathan Glazer’s excellent sci-fi thriller Under the Skin, playing a confused alien disguised as a woman, who seduces men in order to harvest their flesh, which is a delicacy on its home world.

    Here is the trailer:

    Johansson, who recently revealed that she was “tired of being sexy,” is expecting her first child with fiance Romain Dauriac, the owner of an independent advertising agency. The couple presently lives in the Rive Gauche district of Paris.

    Image via Youtube

  • Alanis Morissette Stars In “Radio Free Albemoth”

    Alanis Morissette stars in the new movie, Radio Free Albemuth, along with Shea Whigham. The sci-fi movie is about an alien who sends trasmissions to Earth to the mind of an earthling in order to start a revolution. Through pop songs.

    Sci-Fi novelist Philip K. Dick is one of the greats and his book of the same title was published posthumously in 1985 to a wide fan base and great reviews. However, it’s general knowledge that turning a book with such a weird premise into a good movie would probably be fairly difficult. That kind of a storyline needs more than an angst-ridden pop star from the 90’s like Alanis Morissette.

    That’s why, when Steven Spielberg (Minority Report) and Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, 1990) made movies from Philip K. Dick books, they had to take fairly excessive liberties with the material they had to work with.

    The story goes that a record store clerk, played by Jonathan Scarfe, receives weird visions that tell him to move to Las Angeles and get a job in the music industry. There he meets Sylvia, played by Alanis Morissette, who has been appearing in his visions.

    The pair then proceeds to write a pop song that will lead to the overthrowing of the U.S. government.

    Hmmm. Even with Alanis Morissette that sounds like a doomed flop. Unfortunately for new director John Alan Simon, who really wanted to take “a purist approach” to a story many believe to be Dick’s most autobiographical work, this proved to be closer to the truth than he probably hoped.

    The critics weren’t thrilled.

    Sara Stewart of the New York Post said, “Despite the dramatic dystopia, performances here are uniformly low-affect, which isn’t helpful given the exposition-heavy dialogue and unremarkable set (though Nick’s extraterrestrial visions have a pleasantly kitschy look). Also puzzling is the fact that the pivotal song is not actually performed by Morissette.”

    She added, “It’s pretty underwhelming, though interesting for its premise — a semi-autobiographical account of Dick’s own trippy experiences in the ’70s.”

    Ouch.

    Jeanette Catsoulis of the New York Times said, “The result is a quaint labor of love blinkered by fidelity to an outdated text. Stiff staging and not-so-special effects accompany Jonathan Scarfe and Alanis Morissette as they endure a despotic alternate reality and get communications from an alien intelligence. The excellent Shea Whigham, as a science-fiction writer, is our guide and narrator, but even his gravitas won’t keep you from laughing at an extraterrestrial who thinks that hiding subliminal messages in pop songs is the way to start a revolution.”

    Perhaps the next director to take on a Philip K. Dick novel shouldn’t take such a “purist” stance.

    Image via YouTube

  • Oscar Isaac Named In ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ Cast

    Star Wars fans have long been waiting for the complete list of cast members for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, which is set to be released in 2015.

    Rumors have been floating around for months on who the cast members will be. After much speculation, the cast has finally been revealed.

    The official announcement was made on the Star Wars website. A black and white picture showed all the cast members sitting in a circle, together with Abrams, during a read-through of the script at the Pinewood Studios.

    The picture was accompanied by a message from Abrams saying that they are excited to share the cast of the movie. He is also excited about the fact that “original cast and these brilliant new performers” are coming together for the film. Abrams also mentioned that they will start shooting in a few weeks.

    For several months, there have been rumors about the actors who will be participating in the film. Among them were Star Wars veterans Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Peter Mayhew. Based on the news, veterans Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels will also be in the film.

    Other cast members included in the film are John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis, Adam Driver, Max von Sydow, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac. Individual roles for the actors have not yet been announced, but fans are hoping to hear more details on May 4, which is celebrated as “Star Wars Day.”

    Isaac was the latest actor to join the cast. He is a Guatemalan-born actor and singer who starred in Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen brothers. There are still no reports as to what role he will play, but he’s rumored to have one of the major parts in the film.

    Star Wars: Episode VII will be shown in theaters on December 18, 2015.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tatiana Maslany Ready for Season 2 of ‘Orphan Black’

    Tatiana Maslany is one of the quickest rising, yet most unheard of stars in television currently. The 28-year-old Saskatchewan, Canada native has been in the acting business since 1997, yet most of her roles over the course of those 17 years have been relatively minor. In 2013, Maslany appeared on the hit NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. Unknown to her at the time, though, Maslany was also currently working as the lead actress on a television series which would launch her into stardom – Orphan Black.

    While Orphan Black received less than one million viewers in its first season run on BBC America, that does not delegitimize the show’s potential for success.

    After the first season of Orphan Black ended, some 5.2 million viewers tuned in to the show through other mediums, mostly on-demand and DVDs. Since the show ended last summer, it has obtained a cult following, with #TheCloneClub pushing the show to prominence.

    The show would be nowhere, however, without the outstanding acting by Tatiana Maslany. Maslany’s role on Orphan Black forces her to not only play her single identity on the show, but also the identities of 11 different clones. The labor and intensity of such an act earned Maslany a Golden Globe nomination in 2013 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic Television Series.

    Going into Season 2, Maslany feels more confident in being able to portray all 11 clones in their own unique ways. She credits that confidence to understanding the characters better now that she has one season under her belt.

    “I know these women now, so it was about going deeper with it and challenging them and not getting stuck in just going to do the Alison thing. It’s like what happens when Alison is thrown into this situation. And we left them all at very tense places, kind of high-stakes places, so there was so much to work with,” Maslany explained.

    While Maslany is more familiar with the diverse cast of characters she has to portray in each episode, it doesn’t mean that the preparation to achieve such a task is any easier. When asked how she handles the difficulty in portraying multiple characters on the same set in one day, Maslany responded:

    “I kind of have to think about all of them. As much as I can I try to block them out, but I do block the scene as all of them first off, so I have to think about what maybe the impulse might be on that side or who I want to have move into the space at that time or how something is gonna play out. I kind of have to direct it ahead of time in a way and have it all in my head. I try to sort of forget it, forget, forget, forget. And then just be there. Simplifying it in my head as much as possible is the way to do it. Just breathing and being there as that character, and letting that come out, with an awareness that I do have to move on from that person at the end of it.”

    Maslany’s co-star Jordan Gavaris understands and appreciates the daunting nature of Maslany’s performances: “I don’t think there’s another actor right now, especially in her age range, who could have tackled something like this. The value of getting to work with an actor of her caliber is not lost on me.”

    Orphan Black‘s co-creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett feel the same way. “She’s a total natural, a working prodigy… Everyone wants to do their best work because she’s working harder than everyone here, and everyone knows she’s doing something special.”

    If one is intrigued by the concept of a sci-fi show centered around a cloning project gone wrong, one can view the episodes on Amazon Prime Instant Video, which has locked down an exclusive online streaming deal for the show.

    If you do decide to tune in, however, expediency must be a priority. Season 2 of Orphan Black airs on BBC America starting this Saturday, April 19.

    Image via Twitter

  • ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Collaborates With Lucasfilm For Special ‘Star Wars’ Episode

    CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory joins forces with Lucasfilm for a special Star Wars episode in time for the annual “Star Wars” Day on May 4. The episode, which is titled “The Proton Transmogrification”, will air on May 1.

    Whose great idea was it?

    Chuck Lorre, the co-creator and executive producer of The Big Bang Theory, said they were approached by Lucasfilm to come up with something to commemorate the holiday.

    In this episode, viewers will get to visit the remote planet of Dagobah, where Jedi Master Yoda spent his time in exile. The swamps and forests that became Yoda’s refuge will be recreated by Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic department, complete with special effects. The final touches will be done at Lucasfilm’s headquarters in San Francisco.

    While Lucasfilm was the brains behind the episode, the idea to bring Dagobah to the Big Bang set is that of the writers and producers.

    The episode’s special guest is Bob Newhart, who first made his appearance on The Big Bang Theory last year, for which he won an Emmy. He will return as a Professor Proton, the childhood idol and mentor of Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons.

    Steve Molaro, who produces the show with Lorre, said they knew that Newhart would guest in the show again. That, plus Lucasfilm’s idea, gave them an opportunity “to mix both stories and come up with something special.”

    Molaro said that he and Lorre called Newhart about the episode. “We had to give him a quick primer on the ‘Star Wars’ mythology.” He said the veteran comedian got picked it up quickly and “was very excited about it.”

    In the episode, the Big Bang gang is set to celebrate the geek holiday. Professor Proton appears to Sheldon in a vision and proceeds to be his Jedi master, complete with a light saber.

    “They sent us a real one to use,” Molaro said of Lucasfilm. “They’re going to help make it look and sound right.”

    “Star Wars” Day is held on May 4 every year. The appropriate greeting for Star Wars fans is “May the fourth be with you”, a play on the movie franchise’s line “may the Force be with you.”

    The Big Bang Theory – Star Wars

    Image via Wikimedia Commons 1, 2

  • Darth Vader Runs For Ukraine’s Presidential Race

    Ukraine’s President, Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by the parliament in February 2014 after a series of protests. A total of 328 of the 447 members of the parliament opted to remove Yanukovych from his post for failing to live up to his duties as the country’s leader. As a result, Ukraine will be having a snap presidential election, which is slated for May 25. One of the candidates planning to replace Yanukovych as Ukraine’s President is none other than The Sith Lord himself, Darth Vader.

    Darth Vader is the UIP’s (Ukrainian Internet Party) official candidate for the presidential elections. Dmitry Golubov, UIP’s leader said, “After winning intraparty primaries by a landslide, comrade Vader will be our party’s candidate.” The UIP also said that they have already paid the registration fee that amounts to $225,000.

    Election officials finally figured out the identity of the man behind the costume. They identified him as Viktor Shevchenko, a 58-year-old electrician who works at the National University of Food Technologies.

    When Shevchenko showed up at the election registration on Saturday, he showed his passport bearing the name Darth Vader written in Ukrainian. However, the election officials did some digging and found out his true identity through tax documents.

    Darth Vader still insists that he is not the man they think he is and he has no relation to Shevchenko.

    The Sith Lord has been involved in various political stunts. Just last year, Stormtroopers carried him to the Odessa city hall, where he proclaimed himself as the city’s mayor. In another report, Darth Vader allegedly demanded to be given a plot of land where he could park his spaceship.

    In a statement, Darth Vader said, “I alone can make an empire out of a republic, to restore former glory, to return lost territories and pride for this country.”

    Darth Vader will be running along with more than a dozen presidential hopefuls.

    Darth Vader Gives Campaign Speech

    Image via YouTube

  • The True Terror Of Caffeine Is That We Run Out Of The Stuff

    Caffeine is the most widely consumed drug on the planet. It’s in everything from coffee and tea to chocolate and energy bars. What happens then when caffeine runs out? Do we just stop ingesting the stuff, or do we go out into space to mine it? In a new game slated for released in 2015, the latter scenario is what humanity opts for.

    Dylan Browne took to Indiegogo this week to launch a crowdfunding campaign for Caffeine – a psychological horror title set on board an abandoned space ship. While this scenario has been seen numerous times in games (i.e. Dead Space, Routine), Caffeine is unique in that the player character is a small boy. That makes the player even more defenseless as they explore the spacecraft trying to figure out what happened.

    Here’s the official synopsis:

    The Year is 2097, the Earth is over-populated and is lacking resources.

    The most consumed drug is caffeine and companies have countless outposts among the stars mining the resources required to quench the endless thirst of Earth’s population.

    Caffeine will primarily be a Sci-Fi Horror game, but at the same time employ a strong focus on both adventure and narrative and will include some smart puzzle game play.

    There will be no weapons in Caffeine but you will be able to use the environment around you.

    Scattered around the environment there will be a mass of notes, audio logs and clues to what the employees at the station were up to and what was going on in their lives, hopefully creating a great deal of lore for the world of Caffeine.

    It at least sounds unique, right? If you think so, you’ll definitely want to check out the first trailer for the game:

    Browne is asking for $80,000 on Indiegogo so he can work on Caffeine full-time. If he doesn’t reach the goal, he will still continue developing the game in his free time. He notes that this will likely make the final product suffer. If you don’t care whether the game is completed sooner or later, you might want to support the project to get a t-shirt, mug or even a speaking role in the game.

    Image via Dylan Browne/YouTube

  • Googler Rachel Searles Writes Sci-Fi Novel

    Googler Rachel Searles has a new sci-fi book out called The Lost Planet. Matt Cutts points us to it, and has only good things to say about it:


    Amazon has a pretty substantial preview.

    Searles is from the search quality team. Here’s a video of her talking about reconsideration request tips, which we covered a couple years ago.

    You can check out her blog here, where she talks about the book a great deal.

    Image via Rachel Searles’ blog

  • Gillian Anderson Is Writing a Sci-Fi Trilogy

    Publisher Simon & Schuster has just announced a new science fiction endeavor, an imprint called Simon451 (a clear homage to Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Fahrenheit 451) – and one of the first authors to sign on to the new division is none other than Agent Scully herself.

    Gillian Anderson is set to pen one of Simon451’s inaugural titles – A Vision of Fire – which is actually part of a scheduled trilogy. A Vision of Fire is the first book in the EarthEnd Saga, which Anderson is writing with co-author Jeff Rovin.

    That book, and a few other launch titles are expected to hit in October of this year.

    “This is a very exciting endeavor, and I’m thrilled that Simon and Schuster has taken us under their wing,” says Anderson. “Together, we will make the most of what I hope will be a compelling series of adventures.”

    According to Entertainment Weekly, A Vision of Fire “centers on Caitlin O’Hara, a world-traveling child psychiatrist who specializes in treating kids who’ve suffered trauma from natural disasters and war.”

    Gillian Anderson is of course best known for the role of Agent Dana Scully on the long-running sci-fi series The X-Files. You can also catch her on the excellent BBC series The Fall, which is currently available to stream, in its entirety, on Netflix.

    Image via WIkimedia Commons

  • Here’s Some New Info On Alien: Isolation

    Sega surprised nobody yesterday when it announced that it was going to give this Alien game thing another try with Alien: Isolation. Still reeling from the embarrassment and resentment from Colonial Marines, some wondered if Sega should even bother. Well, it seems like the publisher is actually bothering to ship a good game this time.

    As reported yesterday, Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game that casts players into the role of Amanda Ripley – daughter of the film series’ protagonist Ellen Ripley. She visits an abandoned space station in search of her mother and comes into contact with a single xenomorph that will be stalking her throughout the game.

    The first trailer already instilled some hope that Alien: Isolation would better represent the source material than any Alien game before it. If you’re still skeptical, however, you’ll want to check out PlayStation Access’ inside scoop on some information not yet revealed in either the initial trailer or dev diary:

    If you want to see even more Alien: Isolation, PlayStation Access has some exclusive gameplay not seen in the trailer:

    Image via PlayStation Access/YouTube

  • Alien: Isolation Will Attempt To Clean Up After Colonial Marines In Late 2014

    I think it’s safe to say that Aliens: Colonial Marines was the biggest letdown of 2013. After years of teases and one impressive trailer, the final product was a run of the mill shooter that reduced xenomorphs to cannon fodder. It seemed like all hope was lost for the Alien franchise in video games, but Sega is giving it another go in 2014.

    Sega announced today that Creative Assembly, the team behind the super successful Total War RTS franchise, is developing Alien: Isolation for current and next-gen platforms. The game is a first-person survival horror title that tries to capture the feel of Ridley Scott’s original film by having only one xenomorph.

    As for the story, the game puts players in the role of Amanda – Ripley’s daughter. She’s searching for her mother and has been sent to a derelict space station after receiving reports that her mother had been sighted there.

    Here’s the first gameplay trailer:

    Did that just fill you with hope? It sure did for me. I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise, and I’ve always wanted a game that could match up with the original film. With Alien: Isolation, it seems like the team feels strongly about crafting a game that can match the mood and terror of the original film. Don’t believe me? Here’s a video of the team talking about their vision:

    Alien: Isolation will be out in late 2014 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

    Image via Alien: Isolation/YouTube

  • This Robot Has Its Very Own Death Laser

    This Robot Has Its Very Own Death Laser

    After years of appearing in science fiction, lasers that can actually cause harm to humans are finally small enough to be held. Now one laser aficionado has combined two sci-fi nightmares into one by giving a robot a laser.

    In the latest video from the self-proclaimed DIY Laser Guy, he attached a 2W laser to a spider robot. He then uses a controller to move the robot and aim the laser. The laser is powerful enough to pop balloons, burn paper and cause all sorts of mischief. It wouldn’t kill a human, but it would certainly hurt.

    Check it out:

    If you want to build your own death ray spider robot, you can get the robot here and the laser here. If you decide to build your own, remember to be responsible.

    Image via styropyro/YouTube

  • Tom Cruise Fights Aliens in First ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ Trailer

    With the mild success of this year’s Oblivion behind him, Tom Cruise is now set to star in yet another summer sci-fi thriller.

    Edge of Tomorrow will star Cruise as Bill Cage, a rookie soldier thrown into battle with an alien force that has invaded the Earth. Cage falls in battle and the finds himself in a time loop (think Groundhog Day). Living the same battles over-and-over, Cage improves his combat skills with the help of a special forces soldier named Rita Vrataski, played by Emily Blunt.

    The premise of the movie sounds like a solid sci-fi tale, and should provide fans with plenty of Tom Cruise death scenes. The first trailer for the movie was released today and shows that the movie will have plenty of action, gunfire, and explosions for the summer crowd when the movie is released on June 6, 2014: